Sunderland boss looking at British options

David Moyes

Chris Young

Published:07:49Tuesday 02 August 2016

David Moyes is eager to buy British to give Sunderland’s new signings the best possible chance of hitting the ground running.

Moyes faced his first press conference as Sunderland manager yesterday and confirmed that the Black Cats have formal bids on the table for two players - one of which is understood to be at an advanced stage and could be completed in time for this Friday’s final pre-season friendly against Borussia Dortmund.

I’ve never been off the telephone.

Sunderland are also thought to be in talks over a further half a dozen targets, with Moyes keen to strengthen his squad with around five additions before the end of the transfer window.

After succeeding Sam Allardyce midway through the pre-season campaign, Moyes admits time restraints have left him with little chance to see all of his potential new recruits in the flesh, with less than a fortnight until the Premier League gets underway.

But the ex-Manchester United boss hopes to counter that obstacle by bringing in homegrown players, or at least those who have experience of competing in English football.

Moyes said: “We want to get it right, so it’s important that we get people who know the Premier League and how it works.

“I would always go and watch the players, see them live, but that’s impossible.

“My style wouldn’t be to take anything off a video, but unfortunately with some of them at the moment, I’m having to do that.

“I’m trying to avoid that situation as much as possible, because if you get into it too much, you can make mistakes.

“I’ve never been off the telephone, I’ve done an awful lot of work just trying to find out who could be available and what could happen.

“We’ve got a couple of offers in for players just now, written offers, and we are just waiting for them to come back.”

Moyes was a spectator at games throughout Europe for two-thirds of last season after he was dismissed by La Liga outfit Real Sociedad in November.

That left him with several players in mind when he agreed to take charge at the Stadium of Light, albeit he still needed to assess the squad he inherited from Allardyce.

“Yes, I was watching games all the time, watching players in different leagues to see who would be available,” he added.

“But I would say that when you’re out of work, you don’t have a gauge.

“For example, you don’t know that you’re going to watch the right-back because you need a right-back.

“You don’t know what you’re judging it against either.

“I’ve got three or four people in my head that I’ve seen through the year.

“But until you see what you’ve got yourself, it’s difficult to know if they’re better than what you’ve got.”